NASA is launching a prototype instrument that could make it easier to
monitor volcanic activity and air quality. Perched aboard a CubeSat about 300 miles
(480 kilometers) above Earth’s surface, the “Nanosat Atmospheric Chemistry
Hyperspectral Observation System,” or NACHOS, will use a compact hyperspectral
imager to locate sources of trace gases in areas as small as 0.15 square miles
(0.4 square kilometers) – about the size of the Mall of America in Minnesota.
NACHOS is part of Northrop Grumman’s 17th resupply mission to the
International Space Station from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops
Island, Virginia.
File photo of a Northrop
Grumman Cygnus spacecraft in the grip of the International Space Station's
Canadarm2 robotic arm. Credits: NASA
If successful, NACHOS will be the smallest, highest resolution space-based
instrument dedicated to monitoring atmospheric trace gases like sulfur dioxide
(SO2) and nitrogen dioxide, paving the way for future Earth-observing systems
that will not only help predict volcanic eruptions, but also monitor air
quality around specific cities, neighborhoods, and even individual power
plants.
“A dormant volcano just waking up may emit SO2 before there is any
detectable seismic activity. That gives us a chance to identify a potentially
erupting volcano before it actually blows,” said Steve Love, a researcher and
task lead with the Space and Remote Sensing Group at the Department of Energy’s
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).
Atmospheric trace gases from natural and human-made sources provide
scientists with unique insights into a wide variety of Earth systems. For
example, nitrogen dioxide, often produced by burning fossil fuels, negatively
impacts human health and can serve as a tracer for carbon dioxide (a greenhouse
gas that contributes to climate change) that results from human activity.
A researcher holds NACHOS, fixed to a CubeSat with its solar panels unfolded. Credits: Los Alamos National Laboratory/Logan Ott
“When we recognize that these gases are present and can localize their
sources on a sub-kilometer scale, we have the opportunity to take action and
minimize negative health outcomes,” said Love.
But monitoring trace gases requires instruments sensitive enough to gather
high-resolution data; traditionally, that’s meant creating larger satellites
equipped with a full suite of powerful sensors.
“There are excellent instruments in orbit gathering data on atmospheric
trace gases, but they are expensive to produce and maintain. If we want to
expand this scientific capability, we’ll need a more cost-effective solution,”
said Love.
At just 13 pounds (6 kilograms) and 18 cubic inches (300 centimeters
cubed), NACHOS is well qualified to become that solution. In addition to an
ultra-compact hyperspectral imager capable of
gathering high-resolution data, NACHOS also uses onboard processing algorithms,
which reduce both the size of its data transmissions and the amount of time it
takes to relay those transmissions back to Earth.
These algorithms run particularly well on small computers, giving NACHOS
large amounts of computational power without increasing the instrument’s size
or weight.
“More power and less weight set NACHOS apart and make it an excellent
candidate for future atmospheric trace gas missions,” said Love.
NACHOS will remain aboard Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft until May
2022, when the spacecraft will unberth from the International Space Station and
place NACHOS in low-Earth orbit before the cargo spacecraft reenters Earth’s
atmosphere. Love and his team will spend three months commissioning NACHOS
before it begins its technology validation and science mission. He expects
NACHOS to remain in orbit for about one year.
“That will give us enough time to verify our instrument design and gather
enough test data to ensure our technology concept is feasible,” said Love.
A second NACHOS instrument will head to low-Earth orbit in winter of 2022
as part of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Space Test Program.
The prototype is funded through the InVEST program in NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office.
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image: NACHOS CubeSat. Credits: Los
Alamos National Laboratory
By Gage Taylor
NASA's Earth Science Technology
Office
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